Hell Has Its Laws (part 1)

In Baldur's Gate 3, in the House of Hope, Raphael says something very important to the lore of the Nine Hells. He sings, in fact, “Hell, hell, hell has its laws. Hell, hell, effects and the cause . . .”

He's right, and it's deeper than it seems. Hell is a place defined by its lawfulness. Law and order are strict, draconian, intricate. The devil is in the details, and every contract is sancrosanct. But each of those contracts are full of small print, caveats, loopholes, and let the buyer beware. Infernal law is a deep and complicated practice. Every devil worth their salt must be a lawyer to put earthly lawyers to shame.

But it's the second part that makes it interesting. Effects and the cause. The laws of hell are the effects . . . what is the cause?

Take a step back, look at it from outside. Hell is all about laws, rules, order. But Hell was founded by rebels. Beings who refused to bow to greater authority, or even to admit that greater authority existed. The devils started as celestials. With that in mind, Hell is a place of rules simply because devils do not respect individual authority. It must be bounded by strict laws to function. Only the law matters. The only authority that is respected is that granted by power and position, and the gain and loss of power and position are governed by that very explicit code.

Hell's laws are the effect, and the cause is the rebellious nature of those who wrote the laws. The laws are written with loopholes and caveats specifically so that they can be manipulated by the clever, but strict enough to keep the 'society', such as it is, broadly functional. Like the Great Houses of the Imperium in Dune, or the drow houses of Menzoberranzan, they have laws governing exactly how they are allowed to betray and kill each other, how vendettas are settled, etc.

The society of Hell is basically a continuous civil war and war of succession, kept mainly to 'cold war' of assassination and espionage, until someone over steps and the war becomes hot indeed. Alliances of convenience between archdevils are made and discarded as they become more or less useful, but everyone knows the rules, and what they can get away with. Every betrayal must have a legal pretext, an exception in the rules that makes it not really treachery, but simply business as usual.

Game of Thrones, eat your heart out.

More to come as I examine Hell in Dungeons and Dragons, in my setting of Rega, and my setting of Crux, especiall as concerns the Bastion.